XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.politics.homosexuality, sac.politics
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From: colorado@fag.state
"Trump - Inmate Number P01135809" wrote in
news:ujaje2$3bft3$5@dont-email.me:
> Dope and queer embracing Colorado deserves every bad thing that
> happens to it and they should not be bailed out by the rest of the
> nation.
DENVER — Representatives from counties across Colorado complained during
the first day of a special legislative session Friday that Democratic
lawmakers’ plan to reduce property taxes would leave them strained to
provide services.
Those complaints came as Colorado Counties Incorporated, the nonprofit
organization that represents counties across the state, voted to have a
neutral position on Senate Bill 1, which Democrats introduced Friday.
Representatives from the organization testified they support parts of the
bill — such as financial support for school and fire districts — but they
want to see more support for counties.
“Counties provide crucial services to people in Colorado,” said George
Marlin, a Clear Creek County commissioner and a spokesman for the CCI
board. “Our budgets are strained by increased costs at the same time as
increased service demands”
Gov. Jared Polis announced the special session on Nov. 9, calling on
lawmakers to find a one-year solution to historically high property taxes
after voters soundly rejected Democrats’ initial plan: Proposition HH.
Senate Bill 1 is Democrats’ attempt to find a new solution.
The bill is nearly identical to the relief Proposition HH would have
offered — but instead of lasting 10 years, it would only apply to the 2023
tax year. It also diverges from HH in that it wouldn’t use excess funding
over the cap on government spending set by the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights
to pay counties back for the property taxes they would lose. That means it
wouldn’t impact the TABOR refund checks Coloradans receive when the state
government’s revenue exceeds the cap.
Senate Bill 1 would cut the state’s assessment rate, which is used to
calculate property taxes, to 6.7% from 6.765%. It would also allow
homeowners to exempt the first $50,000 of their home’s value when paying
taxes.
Property taxes are collected by counties and used for local services like
schools, fire departments, libraries and sheriff’s departments. That means
Democrats’ plan to provide residents with relief will result in counties
having less revenue to pay for those services. To make up for the losses,
the bill proposes using the majority of a $200 million portion of general
fund dollars to fully refund school and fire districts.
About $65 million of that funding is set aside to make some local
governments’ budgets whole. It prioritizes counties with slower growth in
their homes’ assessment values.
“Summit County doesn’t qualify for any kind of backfill in the bill as it
has been presented today,” said Summit County Commissioner Tamara Pogue.
Pogue and other commissioners asked lawmakers to reconsider the backfill
mechanism. Ultimately, the bill was approved along party lines without
substantial changes made. It will continue through the legislative process
over the weekend.
Routt County Assessor Gary Peterson said his county also won’t be eligible
for backfill.
Counties must submit their finalized budgets to the state by early
December.
The session is expected to last at least three days and will cover several
other topics. Bills to make all TABOR refunds equal, create a task force
to study a long-term approach for keeping property taxes at bay and add
funding for the state’s rental relief program all progressed in the first
day of the session.
Several Republican bills were postponed indefinitely during their
committee hearings, including their own plans to address property tax
increases and create a tax task force.
https://www.summitdaily.com/news/colorado-counties-ask-lawmakers-for-more-
funding-to-replace-lost-property-tax-revenue/
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